Blogs

Tim Cook's 'activism' continues to surprise Americans and Silicon Valley in particular. Right now, there are more electronics CEOs prepared to engage with the US body politic than for quite some time. But the Apple CEO stands out for taking stands that don't just reflect his company's interests. There's more to this than Snowden.

Specialisation is one of those tricks of nature that's proved so spectacularly successful it just has to be repeated, over and over again. And it's one we humans have adopted in grand style. In just about every area of human endeavour - not least engineering - specialisation has proved a powerhouse driving growth, development and prosperity. But as we all know, the danger with power is that it can be used to destroy, as well as to construct.

It's almost the point at which Moore's Law turns 50. For those decades the assumption is that everyone wants faster and cheaper. But the design requirements are changing. Low energy is quickly moving to the top of the list of requirements. Even for 5G, where the push is for low latency to support the 'tactile internet', power is an issue, with companies such as Ericsson saying an ultralean design will be needed for basestations and support infrastructure to stop power going out of control.

Long gone are the days (or rather nights) when sleep was just "a balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course" (pace Shakespeare). It is now a big business, an industry in its own right. In his latest book "Night School", Prof Richard Wiseman even writes about "the new science (sic - VV) of sleep and dreaming". As for the seemingly oxymoronic terms "sleep technology" and "sleep engineering", they have become almost routine.

Immigration is shaping up to be just as big an issue as expected in the UK's May General Election. And it is not just an issue in little Britain. Many other countries in Europe and beyond are seeing a resurgence of nationalistic and immigration-sceptical parties. This should worry the engineering industry in particular.

Nikola was round the other night. Just hanging out, at my place. She's been doing that quite a lot, lately. I'm drawing no conclusions; I'm just enjoying the moments. She had a big bag with her. I thought, some assignment or other. Or she keeps a laptop in there. Anyway, so she reaches inside, while we're all watching a film, and she's nestled comfortably into my side and she pulls out...